All you need is love

Not just waves but tsunamis of joy were drifting through my open mind as I finally got to see the movie that had been inciting and inviting me all summer long. My cheeks hurt as I left the theater due to two hours and 11 minutes of straight smiling. I was speechless the entire walk back to the car. I felt like the creators of “Across the Universe” had tapped into my psyche and manufactured a movie that catered to my every interest. At the time I was too content to talk about it.

“Across the Universe” is a film about the ’60s – Vietnam, counterculture, tuning in, turning off and dropping out – with the Beatles as the narrator. The Beatles’ career evolved as the ’60s did. Their early, elementary yet catchy songs such as “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” contained ’50s ideals while their later songs such as “Revolution” showcased the radicalism of the ’60s; thus their songs serve as a perfect backdrop for a film about the era.

The film’s plot is a mixture of dialogue and 33 Beatles songs sung by the cast. The lyrics tell most of the story; it’s a Beatles fan’s dream-we get to see the lyrics we all know and love come to life on screen in an aesthetically pleasing way. Along with the songs, the screenwriters included many Beatles allusions. For example, one character, Prudence (allusion No.1) enters the scene “through the bathroom window” (allusion No.2).

The plot: A young man from Liverpool, Jude (Jim Sturgess), leaves England in search of his father in America. He meets Max (Joe Anderson), a radical student at Princeton University who eventually drops out and invites Jude to go to Greenwich Village in New York with him. Their landlord, Sadie, is a Janis Joplin-esque singer who plays with a Hendrix-like guitar player. Jude falls in love with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), Max’s sister. She follows the duo to New York and becomes very involved in the anti-war protests while Jude throws himself into art.

Forget drugs; drop some “Universe” to get your psychedelic fix. The film is cinematically beautiful and serves as an overload to all your senses. There is definitely something in the way it moves.

As the scenes and songs change, the times change, the settings transform and the characters evolve.

The Beatles’ songs are re-created on screen in ways that many would not think of by just listening to the lyrics. The song “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” was the most innovative segment of the film. A poster of Uncle Sam sings “I Want You” to Max as he enters the building in which he is tested for the draft and, once in uniform, he and fellow soldiers sing “She’s So Heavy” while carrying the Statue of Liberty on their backs.

I did not merely enjoy this movie; I felt it throughout my whole body. I basically was in a happy coma. I fell in love. When Evan Rachel Wood sang “It Won’t Be Long” early on in the film, I knew it wouldn’t be until I had to see the movie again and again and again.

Some people may think the film is cheesy and the plot is too simple, but I disagree. The film not only tells the story of two lovers through song, it speaks of an entire generation. In those whimsical scenes that some deem “cheesy,” like when Jude sings “All You Need is Love” from a rooftop, I believe the creators of this film completely captured the intent of the Fabulous Four. The Beatles wrote these songs in times of turmoil in hopes of promoting love and peace through their music. So what other way to show their intent than an over-the-top notion for love?

Bottom line: if you’re a fan of musicals, The Beatles, the ’60s, hippies, countercultures or just beautiful films, you have to see “Across the Universe.” It’s innovative, fresh, exciting and you’ll leave the theater feeling fuzzy inside.